Dear IDHS Stakeholders,
As you may know, the Illinois Department of Human Services (IDHS) is administering the 2020 Census efforts in Illinois. Today, I'm excited to announce that IDHS has issued a Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) to award grants to eligible community organizations and local governments to serve as Regional Intermediaries, using their expertise and experience in executing and managing subawards to encourage full participation in the 2020 Census. More information on the NOFO can be found about the Illinois Census Office Grant Program page.
To optimize coordination, the state has been divided into 12 regions, and at least one Regional Intermediary will be selected for each designated region.
Historically, the U.S. Census has undercounted certain population groups, and some geographic areas are identified as having low self-response rates from the last decennial census. The populations and areas that are least likely to respond are commonly referred to as Hard-to-Count (HTC) communities. Funding will focus on the critical objective of increasing the self-response rate of HTC communities to the census and ensuring a complete count of all Illinois' residents.
All applicants interested in serving as a Regional Intermediary must be GATA (Grant Accountability and Transparency Act) pre-qualified by the application deadline on Friday, September 6, 2019 at 5:00 pm CT. IDHS will host a live technical assistance webinar on Thursday, August 8, 2019 at 1:00 pm CT with a subsequent recording posted to the 2020 Census website. Applicants can also visit the GATA webinars which are available now on the GATA website. Please utilize these tools to help ensure GATA pre-qualifications.
Entities interested in being a subrecipient, serving smaller geographic areas or specific HTCs, must be GATA pre-qualified by the time their subawards are made by the selected Regional Intermediary. Please visit the "Pre-Award Eligibility Requirements" page which will provide guidance on how to become pre-qualified.
IDHS values the community's support and input in this process, and we look forward to working with local organizations and governments on the 2020 census.
Sincerely,
Grace B. Hou
Secretary
